Coship crowdfunds Moly X1 Windows phone on Indiegogo

Coship launched its mid-range Windows smartphone in January of this year for $299. While the Chinese manufacturer is far from being a household name in the smartphone arena, its Moly X1 handset packs a punch with a 5.5-inch 1080p display, 2GB of RAM with 16GB of storage, and a 13MP rear camera.

The lackluster market performance of Windows phones, however, has been forcing equipment manufacturers to cease production of the smartphone. Poor market reception of Windows smartphones also has cast a shadow over the future of the platform and some OEMS are beginning to reconsider their participation, including Coship. That is why the company recently launched a crowdfunding campaign for what it bills as a new Moly X1 Windows phone on Indiegogo.

Coship’s latest move is the fulfillment of its announcement in October to resort to crowdfunding and break away from pumping cash into the Windows phone development. The “new” Moly X1 is available to purchase from $179 for early backers on Indiegogo, though the pricing is bound to reach $190 once all the early birds are sold out in North America, Europe, and Australia by December.

As of this writing, the campaign has raised $1,778 from 17 backers, which is just 2% of its $100,000 goal, suggesting a still cold reception of the phone even in the crowdfunding world. The handset packs the same features as the earlier Moly X1. As a quick recap, a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor clocked at 1.2GHz powers the Moly X1. It also features a 5MP front camera and is powered by a non-removable 2,600 mAh battery. The Windows 10 phone also supports 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and microUSB connectivity.

The Snapdragon 410 chip might frustrate consumers in 2016, however, as the processor is outdated. Also, Coship’s failure to roll out Microsoft’s Windows 10 Anniversary Update to its smartphone as promised is an added frustration. The non-removable battery could also turn off some consumers, thanks to the stigma created by the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 battery fiasco.

Nonetheless, Coship’s decision to crowdfund the Moly X1 instead of ditching the device is a welcome move as far as research and development goes. But given the few number of early backers for the phone with only 18 days remaining, it’s clear now where the phone is heading.